Large Brewers Set the Signal for Reusable

In order to stabilise and promote the sustainable reusable cycle in Germany, four major German brewers are founding the GeMeMa Gesellschaft für Mehrwegmanagement. The initiators emphasize that their bottle pool should also be open to third parties.

The Bitburger Braugruppe, the Krombacher Brauerei, the Radeberger Gruppe and the Warsteiner Gruppe want to stand up for reusable bottles. In mid-August 2020 they therefore announced the foundation of GeMeMa Gesellschaft für Mehrwegmanagement GmbH & Co. KG. This company will be based in Düsseldorf and will be managed independently and market-neutral by the reusable cycle expert Hans Baxmeier as managing director.

The first task of the new company: to set up and control a new, regulated pool for the 0.33 litre reusable glass bottle Longneck. “The foundation of GeMeMa is an important signal in and for the entire beverage industry”, says Baxmeier. “So we also emphasize right from the start that this bottle pool will be open to all beverage producers. We want to take a big step together to significantly strengthen our sustainable reusable system”.

Rules for the bottle pool

Subject to a final antitrust review, the GeMeMa is expected to start its work in September. The most important task of the GeMeMa will be to ensure and continuously monitor the high quality standards of the bottle pool. The initiators emphasise that participation in the initiative is conditional on a commitment to the strict rules of pool maintenance.

The focus is particularly on clear infeed and outfeed specifications. Once the pool for the 0.33-litre longneck bottles has been successfully established, an expansion of the pool concept to include other reusable containers is entirely conceivable.